Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Impressions

Well, a year after the whole 38 Studios/State of Rhode Island fiasco I finally got my hands on (rental) the game at the centre of it all: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 Initial Impressions

I have NSMB2 (3DS) rented right now and having played it for around an hour or so I thought I would post some initial impressions of the game. I'll just write this one up in bulletpoint style. Quick and easy (both to write and to read).

Story

-Princess. Plumber. Rescue. Angry turtles. About as passé as it gets. Does anyone play Mario games for the story though?

Difficulty

-I obviously cannot comment as to the difficulty of the later stages of the game, but having played through all of World 1, most of World 2, and a couple of later stages in Coin Rush mode (one from W3 and I believe the other was 5-3) I can say that thus far it seems as though this game is going to be a little too far on the easy side. I did, however, read that the secret stages are pretty tough, and some of the downloadable coin rush stages are supposed to be very hard, so in the end it sounds like the game should appease all types of gamers with respect to the difficulty found therein and how it appeals to their particular preferences. 

Metal Gear Rising Demo Impressions (And Tips)

PlatinumGames released a demo for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance today and while the game is clearly brilliant the demo was a huge misstep that I suspect is going to cost PlatinumGames a lot of sales. Right off the bat I am going to tell you something that the demo itself does not (much to its own detriment): You can dodge back with X+A (360) or X+S (PS3) and if you add in a direction you do a dodge slash.

How can you release a demo with a tutorial that does NOT tell you how to dodge?

Brutal!

How about not telling the player that the game contains very useful combos utilizing directional inputs?

Horrible!

How about the fact that you can heal (B (360) or Circle (PS3) when prompted during Blade Mode)? The demo never mentions that?

WTF!!

It might not have been so bad if perhaps the demo wasn't REALLY hard on Normal difficulty (compared to most games released these days). They throw you into a few REALLY intense fights in the demo and you get very little in the way of practise or instruction beforehand. This is a mistake that is going to cost PG and it's a shame because having spent some time with the demo (yes, I beat it, and yes, I died several times) I can say that the combat in this game is freaking brilliant. It's incredibly different than many other hack n slash games, with a myriad of complexities that are unfortunately not immediately apparent. It manages to be  both very challenging and yet totally fair.....when you figure out how to properly play the damn thing. The demo really does not do a very good job letting you know much.

So, to any prospective players, remember these few things:

-You can heal (B (360) or Circle (PS3) when prompted during Blade Mode).
-Experiment with button input timing.
-It's hard. You will die. You learn by dying, so don't give up so easily; the game is worth it, trust me.
-You can dodge back with X+A (360) or X+S (PS3) and if you add in a direction you do a dodge slash.
-You can cancel the flying kick (Jump then strong attack when in Ninja Run mode) into a stealth attack.
-Towards, towards weak attack is a launcher
-There are also away, towards weak/strong moves as well as a towards, towards weak one (all powerful)
-Use the lock on during every fight. Forget trying to adjust the camera during fights.
-The game WANTS you to use Blade Mode, so USE it. Especially on large enemies.

There's more I am forgetting and there's also more I am sure I do not yet know. This is a game that requires effort, thought, practise and patience, just like all of the best hack n slash games. And, like those, I can guarantee that there is going to be a small community of extremely dedicated and adept players who will be putting out some incredible gameplay/combo videos over the coming years. And, just as true as that is, there will also be a large group of people who played the demo, got their ass kicked and shut the game off, forever writing it off as a bad game. I find that to be unfortunate. However, what I find to be even more unfortunate is that PlatinumGames is going to cause a lot of that themselves with a very underwhelming and insufficiently explanatory demo.

I really hope this incredibly talented development studio can iron out their issues and earn the sales I think they deserve.

Halo 4: A Non Shooter Fan's Initial Impressions

As any of my readers would know, I am no longer much of a shooter fan. Gone are the days and nights soaked in blood and filled with the acrid smoke of grenades gone boom. Most of my video game playtime consists of me playing XBLA games and RPG's (right now I am playing Code of Princess on the 3DS). When I do play shooters, they are almost always 3rd person rather than first, and also not shooters in the sense of the word I use (think Gears of War or Vanquish). The ones I play are more in the vein of Dead Space and Resident Evil. Action horror games, basically. Those and OLD SCHOOL shooters aka shmups like Geometry Wars and Score Rush.

However, there are those times (usually herbally ameliorated) that I find myself playing a shooter. Usually one of the COD games with friends. Or, in the case of the last few days, some Halo 4 co-op campaign. These sessions are usually fairly fun but inevitably result in a rapid onset of absolute boredom.

Not last night.

Dead or Alive 5 Premium Demo: Quick Thoughts

I finally got my hand on the DOA 5 demo and I have to say, I am IMPRESSED. I really wish the Ninja Gaiden team had been able to expand on the formula while maintaining the integrity of the series/game play in the way that the DOA team has. I mean, sure, the counter system was nerfed to a degree, and I know the power moves have left the community divided, but I think that for non tournament players, the game will prove to be a success. It is VERY fun, runs smoothly, looks good, and seems to have once again hit the balance between playability and depth in such a way that I believe no other series has.

I know many will disagree, and that is completely understandable, but I for one have always thought DOA was the best of the 3D fighting games and DOA5 seems like it is going to continue that trend for me.

If you are a fan of DOA and you are worried that this one has been screwed up, especially given the travesty that is Ninja Gaiden 3, rest assured that the DOA you know and love seems to be intact.

Puzzle Quest 2 Thoughts

I may do a full review for the game once I have spend some more time with it, but I thought I would throw a few thoughts down on paper after maybe 10 hours of play (I haven't been able to play much of anything these last 2 weeks, and what little time i have had to play was split between PQ2 and Crackdown 2).

Right off the bat, I'll say that the game is absolutely a worthy sequel, and it erases the bitter taste left by the disaster that was Puzzle Quest Galactrix.